24 | The Results Sin
I try to hold my shit together, but man, am I freaking out. Arm in arm, I follow Doc into the ICU area. All the nurses acknowledge her as we walk by.
“Is this the hospital you work at?” I ask. Even though I can tell by how the staff acknowledges her, she does.
Doc smiles softly and replies, “Yes. Greg—Dr. Wilson is my boss and good friend. Your sister is in good hands.”
When we turn the corner, I see Violet sitting in the hall. She’s bent over with her elbows resting on her knees and her face is buried in her hands.
Doc doesn’t say anything as we approach. Violet lifts her head, and when she realizes I’m with Doc, she jumps up and embraces us.
My sweatshirt hoodie falls off my head, but I don’t care. At this point, I’m done hiding.
Tears fill my eyes. I can feel it. Something’s wrong.
“Tell me!” I rush out.
When Doc and Vi pull away, they look at each other, but Vi speaks first.
“They should be done soon. They’re treating Ray for a drug overdose but are doing an overall evaluation on her right now.” She looks over at Doc. “LeeLee, why don’t you try to explain it better?”
Doc’s face is filled with worry. “I can’t really explain it. We just don’t know what they gave her. Since Greg pumped her stomach, she’s stopped vomiting. She’s been in and out of consciousness but not making any sense.”
I gasp, covering my mouth with my hand.
Oh God .
“Like I said, we won’t know until we see her test results,” Doc says, giving my biceps an affectionate squeeze.
“Lee!” someone yells from behind me.
I swivel around and notice a good-looking older doctor rush toward us. When he sees me, he stops in his tracks for a beat but recovers swiftly and continues his approach.
I should have put my sweatshirt hoodie back over my head to hide my face, but Doc said she trusted this man, so I didn’t move.
Doc moves toward him, but his eyes are on me. “Are you Raydene’s sister?”
I don’t know why people keep fucking asking that when I look fucking identical to her.
I snap, “Yes, I’m her identical twin.”
Feeling bad, I was sarcastic with him. I instantly reply, “I’m sorry.”
He smirks. “That’s all right, dear. Everyone’s emotions are high right now.”
Doc interrupts, “What’s going on, Greg?”
Greg looks over at Doc and says, “We have her in a room right now, hooked up to an IV, pumping her with fluids. Once we start getting some results back, we can move forward. Ray’s in and out of consciousness and isn’t making coherent sentences. Hopefully, once the medication and fluids start working, she’ll come out of it. Unfortunately, she can only have one visitor. But technically, Lee, you’re a doctor, so you can be there too.”
Violet squeezes me. “Okay, I’ll be out in the waiting room.”
I tug her back for a hug. These two women have been my sister’s best friends for as long as I’ve been gone.
Violet returns to the waiting room while I follow the two doctors to see my sister. It’s been almost five years since I have seen her in person.
My heart starts to race uncontrollably. Of course, my subconscious starts to go.
What if this is the last time I’m going to see her? What if she dies? What if they can’t save her?
I slow my pace, grabbing my chest. I’m going into a full-blown panic attack.
Doc turns around. “Shit. Sin, are you okay? Breathe.”
I bend down, trying to catch my breath.
Doc places her hand on my back. “Breathe. You got this.”
Tears begin to fall.
I can’t lose her. I just can’t lose her.
I feel a pair of strong, muscular hands grab my arms, pulling me upright. I come face-to-face with Dr. Wilson when I’m at my full height.
“Okay, take a deep breath with me,” Dr. Wilson says, grabbing my hand and placing it on his chest.
If I wasn’t having a full-blown panic attack, I’d enjoy feeling up a doctor.
“That’s it. Deep breaths. You’re going to be okay,” Dr. Wilson says reassuringly.
My breathing slows, and I start to relax.
“Okay, miss?” he asks, raising a brow.
What name do I give him? Cindy—Sharlene—Sin. Who am I?
Tears fill my eyes, feeling lost. Who am I without my sister?
Seeing I’m about ready to lose it again, Doc jumps in and replies with a laugh, “Sin, this is Greg—Greg, this is Sin.”
Greg looks between the two of us with a smile.
“Well, Sin, we are going to do everything we can to get Ray back to herself. Now,” he says, turning to start walking. “Let’s get you in there to see her. It would be good to talk to her and let her know you’re here. I’ll be back to check in once the results are in.”
When we reach her room, he places his hand on the door and pushes it open, letting us women walk through first.
Seeing my beautiful sister lying there with tubes everywhere, I begin to cry. Covering my mouth to muffle the sounds, I walk over to her bedside.
She looks so thin. Thinner than normal. She doesn’t look like she’s been beaten or hurt, thank goodness.
Flashbacks to when I was in captivity rush through me. I wince just thinking about the beatings I received.
I shake my head. Not now. Focus.
“Ray, you’re going to be okay. You got the best doctors ever,” Doc teases, grabbing her hand across the bed from me with tears running down her cheeks.
I reach for her slender fingers, ones that match mine perfectly. Everything about us was in sync at one time. Intertwining our hands, I whisper, “Sis, I’m here.”
Sounding like a frog, I clear my throat.
“Dean, please come back to me. I’m here,” I say louder this time, using the nickname I used to call her.
Doc looks up with a smile.
I laugh. “When people call her Ray, I used to always follow with Dean, and when people called me Sin, she’d call me Dee.”
Doc smiles, rubbing my sister’s hand and letting me have my moment.
I keep talking to her louder. “It’s me, Dee. I’m really here. Please wake up.”
We both sit there and watch for any sign she can hear us.
Nothing.
I pull up a chair next to the bed, sit down, and hold her hand.
Doc and I start to go back and forth with stories, and before we know it, we’re both laughing instead of crying.
Hearing the stories Doc’s telling has made me feel a bit better.
Both our phones ding.
I opened mine at the same time Doc did and see it’s a message from Mac. My heart jumps.
MAC: Hey Beautiful, I need to leave. But I’ll be back.
My heart constricts, wishing he was in here with me.
MAC: If you need anything, Redman and Chiv are here with the girls.
I look up and see that Doc is texting too. I’m sure it’s Dallas letting her know he’s going with Mac.
MAC: DO NOT LEAVE.
ME: Okay. Thank you.
ME: I’m with her now, but she’s not awake.
MAC: Keep me posted. I’ll be back soon.
ME: I will. Hurry back.
MAC: *emoji kiss*
I smile. This massive godly biker sends emoji kisses.
My mind runs wild with what he’s going to do. What would be so important that all the men are leaving? What ifs start to form, but I shake my head. My only thought should be of my sister.
After placing my phone down, I give her hand a squeeze.
Doc stands up and says, “I’m going to run out there really quick and give you a few minutes alone with Dean .” She giggles, using my sister’s nickname.
I nod. “Okay. Thanks.”
Once Doc’s gone, I lean over my sister, laying my head on her chest. I want to feel connected to her.
Whenever I was upset, she always had me lay my head on her lap and would play with my hair to calm me down.
Ray was born first by twenty-five minutes and took her ‘older’ status seriously. Always saying she was the oldest.
“Sis, I’m here. Please, do you hear me?” I ask.
When I feel her fingers move, I pop up off her chest.
“Dean, can you hear me?” I practically scream.
I see her eye flutter, and I pull her hand closer to me, cupping it with both hands.
“It’s me. Dee. Your sister. I’m here,” I say, crying.
Ray’s eyes start to open, and she grips my hand.
“Dean, that’s it. Come back to me,” I say, egging her on.
Ray’s eyes blink a few more times, trying to focus on me.
Tears stream down my cheeks. “I’m here, sis. I got you.”
I said the exact words she said to me when I woke up at the hospital.
Ray’s eyes widen, muttering, “No. D. Dead.”
What? D. Dead?
I shake my head. “No, I’m not dead. I’m right here.”
Thinking she’s confused, like everyone else, that I’m dead.
Ray’s head slowly moves from side to side, and her eyes start to close. She mumbles, “D-dead. Hide.”
I can’t tell if she’s stuttering dead or if she’s saying Dee’s dead. What or who am I supposed to hide? What the hell?
I start to panic when she squints her eyes like she’s in pain. She still looks doped up. I don’t understand why she seems worse now than when we brought her in.
I push the call button.
Nurse Cheryl comes rushing in.
Frantic, I say, “She’s awake.”
Cheryl rounds the bed and starts to check my sister’s vitals. As she calls out loudly, “Raydene? Can you hear me?”
Ray cries out, “D. Dead.”
Cheryl glances over at me, and I shrug. I can’t tell Cheryl I think she’s talking about me since everyone thinks I’m dead.
My sister’s eyes close tighter in pain, and her body starts shaking.
“Oh my God! What’s happening?” I panic.
Nurse Cheryl pushes some buttons and the alarm blares. Doc rushes back in with two nurses, pushing me out of the way.
I move back against the wall as I watch Doc and the nurses work.
When Dr. Wilson rushes in, he announces, “Talk to me.”
Nurse Cheryl starts reading off her vitals
Doc looks at me.
I start to stammer, “She…she woke up. Her eyes were…were glossy, but she looked at me.” I pause as the doctor begins calling out orders.
Doc grabs me, ushering me out of the room, saying something about how they need to work.
I’m in shock.
When Doc has me outside the door, she turns me to face her. “What happened?”
“She said I was dead,” I say in a whisper.
Doc’s eyes widen.
I explain, “I mean. She said D. Dead, and I think the word hide.”
Doc looks at me, confused, not saying anything.
“I think she was saying Dee dead and hide.”
We both stand there, taking in what I said, and I replay the words repeatedly.
D.
Dead.
Hide.
Then it hits me.
I cover my mouth, gasping.
Doc looks at me and asks, “What? What is it?”
Tears fill my eyes. “What if she means Dexter is dead? Hide.”
Dexter is dead.
Doc immediately grabs her phone and calls Dallas.
“Alec, do you have eyes on Dexter?” she asks, using what I assume is his real name, making it sound urgent.
I wait patiently.
Her facial expression says it all. They don’t know where Dexter is.
She leans into her phone and says quietly, “We think Ray was trying to tell us he’s dead.”
Dexter’s dead. But hide from who?